5.17.2007

If there are any Lost geeks left out there, and I know there are (it actually got good again over the past few months), Entertainment Weekly has an interesting article up about the philosophy of the show. This is a hell of an article, starting with the fact that a curious number of characters on the show are named after philosophers and then mushrooming into some kind of very hopeful, all-encompassing speculation on the overall philosophical message/theme/somethingorother of the show.

Here's a little sample:

Here's the Big Idea — the curious unifying link — that we've failed to recognize in our narrow application of these philosophers: with the exception of Bakunin, the philosophers of Lost all lived during the Age of Enlightenment, a movement that flowed out of the Age of Reason in the 17th Century. (See: René Descartes, ''I think, therefore I am.'') The Enlightenment belief was that the human mind alone could fathom the mysteries of the world and tame its unruly nature with logic and ideas. It was the Enlightenment that provided the ideological spark for a series of scientific, political, and economic revolutions that would reshape the world and bring forth the utopian-obsessed Modern age. The founding fathers of the United States, for example, were rooted in the ideas of what commentators refer to as ''The Enlightenment Project.'' But perhaps more pertinent to Lost is this: The Enlightenment neutered God. To be clear, many Enlightenment thinkers actually believed in the Big Guy. Nonetheless, their exultation of reason and empiricism precipitated the gradual expunging of religion, mysticism, and magic from any foundational understanding of existence. Thanks to the Enlightenment, God was rendered hazy and driven underground — you know, kinda like a certain crankypants smoke monster that dwells in the bowels of the Island. Coincidence?

What the World Needs Now: One More Blog!

Barrelhouse is a literary journal that bridges the gap between high and low culture. This is the blog firmly planted in the low side of things: random thoughts from our editors and friends on music, movies, television, bubblegum cards, Mr. T, the importance of the movie Roadhouse and whatever else we argue about after we've had too many Brooklyn Browns.